order, and said the bees would be for- 

 warded as soon as the weather was suit- 

 able. The bees came April 3d, in what 

 seemed to be the bottom of a hive, be- 

 ing a box with 2 partitions : in the cen- 

 tre the bees, with only a covering of 

 wire-cloth. I supposed the rest of the 

 hive for some reason had been delayed 

 on the way. As it was Friday night 

 and we had 3 mails before Monday. I 

 decided to wait, feeling sure the mail 

 and express would not both fail, as she 

 had not sent me the printed instruc- 

 tions. As neither brought anything, on 

 Mondav I wrote her of the condition of 

 the bees, that I feared they would die if 

 kept confined as they were, and that I 

 had received no instructions how to care 

 foi them : but she did not notice my 

 letter. I was then convinced she wa 

 fraud, and hired a carpenter to make a 

 hive over the bees as best he could. I 

 then placed them on the stand. They 

 had been confined 10 days: a great 

 many of them had died, leaving not 

 more than a pint, and they have yet 

 done nothing, neither do they seem to 

 increase or diminish. If there was no 

 queen would thev not all have died be- 

 fore this, and if there is a queen why 

 do thev not increase ? 



Mrs. Cotton advertises she has made 

 arrangements with the express compa- 

 nies wherebv she can send her hives to 

 anv part of the country at the rate of 

 .-2'foreverv LOW miles. At that rate 

 charges from Gorham would be less than 

 25 cents. I immediately wrote her I 

 should not accept what she had sent me 

 as a ••complete outfit.'* and unless she 

 sent me evervthingthat belonged to her 

 "controllable hive.*" I should expose 

 her. She then sent me a clumsy top for 

 the hive, and an old feeder filled with 

 dust and dead bees. Surplus honey 

 boxes, of which she savs30 fit her hives. 

 she would not send, for if she should. I 

 would expect them filled with honey : 

 though in some instances I have heard 

 of her sending her customers one as a 

 sample, but she sent none to me. 



When she sent the top and feeder she 

 wrote for me to send back the plan, or 

 to send $4 to pay for it. as that was what 

 she sold them for. I have sent neither 

 the plan nor the $4. 



The express charge on the bees was 

 %\ : on the top ami feeder, sent.", weeks 

 after. 75c; for 4 lbs. of honey for the 

 bees while shut up, $1 : material and 

 work on hive -■>. Bothafcapint ol bees, 

 in a very ordinary hive, have cost me 

 $27.75 in cash, besides all the vexation. 



For the benefit of persons who may 

 be as credulous as myself. I hope you 

 will publish this statement. 

 Skowhegan, Maine, July 24, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Comb Foundation Again. 



JAMES HEDDOX, 



Eight glad was I to rind a test of 

 foundation, and editorial remarks on 

 my article on the above topic in the 

 August number of the American Bee 

 Journal. I am glad so many are ex- 

 perimenting, for the exact truth will 

 surely come to all by-and-by, and thatis 

 whafall of us (who are honest want on 

 fill sxibiccts. 



Am I to understand, by your remarks, 

 that von can keep foundation straight 

 in the frames without wires or any such 

 device ? I never could do it in a single 

 instance out of many trials— not even 

 the heaviest Dunham, which is by all 

 means the best I have tried. Besides. 

 I do not want to keep it in place, I only 

 want to put it in its proper position when 

 the swarm is put in. and then know that 

 it will keep itself there forever. Now, 

 these Given-pressed wired frames of 

 foundation do this every time, and no 

 others will. By the way. you did not 

 put a large or double prime swarm on 

 8 or 10 sheets of it. as we have done 

 with some 50 this season. If you do. 

 you will wish for wires or a sweet and 

 patient disposition, when you open these 

 hives 48 hours afterward. We placed 

 many sheets of Dunham. Given and 

 Root foundation side by side, both in 

 hives and sections, and while we found 

 a marked preference for the Dunham 

 and Given foundation over the Root, we 

 could see none between the Dunham 

 and Given. The first experimental hive 

 opened showed a decided preference for 

 the Dunham : in the second the prefer- 

 ence expressed was about equal ; in the 

 third, the preference was as much in 

 favor of the (riven as against in the first 

 After «i»ing over some 10 or 12 prepared 

 purposely to test their merits as cells of 

 foundation (not asfoundationed frames,] 

 for'in making those— i.e., making foun- 

 dation securely in frames— the Given 

 press has no competitor), we came to the 

 conclusion that the merits of the foun- 

 dations were as nearly equal as could 

 well be. Inasmuch as it is a fact, that 

 not one hole has ever been gnawed ifl 

 one Given wired-frame of foundation. I 

 am well satisfied that something was 

 the trouble with the wax. or the non- 

 sticking solution used in pressing the 

 sheets. I agree with von. that wired 

 foundation out of frames is an article 

 not to be desired. 



I was forcibly reminded how much 

 behind our British cousins are, when 1 

 read Mr. Cheshire's article, on page 378 

 of the August Bee Journal, contain- 



